Shovel



F. c. BRANDENBURG SHOVEL Filed April 28, 1923 IN VEN TOR.

5 ATTORNEY.

% Z BY W Patented Dec. 9, 1924.

UNITED STATES A 1,518,246 PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS C. BRANDENBURG, OF PIQUA, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE WOOD SHOVEL ANT)TOOL COMPANY, OF PIQUA, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SHOVEL.

Application filed April 28, 1923. Serial No. 635,359.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS C. BRANDEN- BURG, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Piqua, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shovels, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My present invention relates to improvements in shovels, whereby theyare strengthened and at the same time reduced in weight, a foot restbeing also provided, which is of great value to the man using theshovel.

My improvement will be more easily and fully appreciated after a briefdescription of a shovel thus'improved, so I shall proceed to describesuch a shovel, referring to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1is a perspective view of. What is commonly known as a track shovel, forthe reason that shovels of this type are extensively used in layingrailway tracks;

Figure 2 is a side elevation, showing the shovel standing with its bladeor bowl in a vertical position, a small fragment being broken away toshowa cross section at that point, and

Figure 3 is a view looking at the back of the shovel as it stands in thesame position it occupies in Figure 2.

Shovels of this type are usually considered to comprise four principalparts: the blade 10, back strap 11, front strap 12 and handle 13. Theblade and back strap might be made of one piece, but for reasons whichneed not be mentioned here they are usually separate pieces of metal,welded together. The front strap is formed integral with a member 14(see Fig. 1), having a shape resembling an arrow head. The edges of thismember are welded to the blade 10, as at 15, after which a drift isdriven between it and the blade, to form a pocket for the wooden handle.After the handle. is inserted in the pocket the front and back strapsare rolled down to the shape of the handle and secured to the handlewith rivets which pass through the'handle and the straps and are headeddown on each side. So far T have described the ordinary shovel. it shallnow point out and describe my improvement.

At each side of the handle I provide the upper edge of the blade with anextension 16, theseextensions being wholly above the upper edge of thepocket member. The extensions are bent toward the front of the blade soas to extend substantially perpendicular, i. e., at right angles, to theblade as a Whole. This is shown very clearly at the place where, thefragment is broken away vertically and the extension 16 is substantiallyhorizontal. These extensions form foot rests and are a great benefit tothe laborer who is compelled to use his foot thousands of times daily topush the shovel "in" Figure 2. In this figure the shovel stands into theground. The foot rest saves his 1 shoes and it avoids making his feetsore, as

(tihe sharp edges of ordinary shovels so often Referring to Figure 3 itwill be seen that thefoot rests 16 incline slightly from the handle.This prevents the'foot slipping off of the shovel, and it is a valuableimprovement, especially in wet weather, or when the user of the shovelis working in slippery material.

I have referred to the fact that the exten- I sions 16 are above theupper edge of thepocket member 14. The bends by which theseextensionsare formed into foot rests are also above the edge of the pocket. The

reason for isolating these bends from the welds is to avoid puttingstrains on the welds such as would result if the bend were made belowthe edge of the pocket. In fact, a few shovels have heretofore been madein Which foot rests were formed by bending the upper edge of the bladeand at the same time bending the pocket member. Bending two pieces ofmetal which have been welded together, causes an unequal action on thetwo pieces. This strains and tends to disintegrate the Weld. Theseshovels have not been a success, for the reason that when they got' outinto the field the strain which had been imposed upon the Welds resultedin the welds yielding under the stresses to which the shovels were putin practical use. For example, track shovels are used for lifting tieswhile broken stones, gravel or earth are tamped under theties. To dothis the laborer slips the edge of the shovel under the end of the tie,and using the upper portion of the back as a fulcrum he bears down onthe handle. Thus he employs the shovel as a lever, and, as can veryeasily be seen, the strength of the shovel is put to a very severe test.Where in -forming foot rests the welds have been bent, even though thewelds at first showed no sign of injury, it has been found that thewelds could not withstand the severe service, and a very largepercentage of shovels thus made soon broke down.

I have solved the problem of the foot rest, or stepped, shovel in themanner described. While I isolate the bends "from the welds, I make themnear the edge of the pocket member and therefore near the ends of thewelds. The foot rests, or flanges, for that is in eflect what the footrests are, stiffen the blade very materially. Byreferring to Figure 1 itwill be seen that the foot rests begin at a point much nearer the handlethan are the upper ends of the welds, and extend to the edges of theblade. words the welds meet the foot rests at a point not far removedfrom the center of the foot rests. As is well known, the most Vulnerablepart of a weld is its margin, or its end, if we may so call it. If theend of a weld is protected from strains the weld is much less liable tofail under repeated and varying stresses, than where the end of the weldis directly exposed to such strains. The kind of strain most to beavoided is such as results in flexing the welded parts. By having thewelds 15 terminate at the base of the foot rests, i. e., in the throatof the angle formed by bending up the extensions 16, the welds are givenmuch needed support. The portions of the blade contiguous I to the footrests are very rigid. Therefore,

although the blade springs more or less under the strains to which it isput, there is substantially no fiexure of the blade in the vicinity ofthe ends of the welds. This improvement has proven so effectual that ithas enabled me to make the blade of a thinner gauge of metal than hasheretofore been practicable, and thus I have reduced the weight of theshovel fully one pound. This is a boon to the man who has to use theshovel .all day. And yet this shovel of reduced weight is stronger andmore durable than the ordinary, heavy shovel.

Having described my invention, I claim, 1. A shovel, comprising a bladewith a In other handle pocket welded thereto, the blade having anextension on its upper edge at each side of the handle, which extendsbeyond the upper edge of the pocket, said extensions being bent towardthe front to form nearly a right angle to the blade, thereby formingfoot rests, the bends being above the upper edge of the pocket andtherefore isolated from the weld which secures the pocket to the blade,but close to the upper edge of the pocket, thereby placing the ends ofthe welds substantially at the throat of the angles formed by the bends.

2. A shovel, comprising a blade with a handle pocket welded thereto, theblade having an extension on its upper edge at each side of the handle,which extends beyond the upper edge of the pocket, said extensions beingbent toward the front to form nearly a right angle to the blade, therebyforming foot rests, the bends being above the upper edge of the pocketand therefore isolated from the weld which secures the pocket to theblade, but close to the upper edge of the pocket, thereby placing theends of the welds substantially at the throat of the angles formed 'bythe bends, said foot rests inclining upward slightly from the handle.

3. A shovel, comprising a blade with a handle pocket welded thereto, theblade having an extension on its upper edge at each side of the handle,which extends beyond the upper edge of the pocket, said exten sionsbeing bent toward the front to form nearly a right angle to the blade,thereby forming foot rests, the bends being above the upper edge of thepocket and therefore isolated from the weld which secures the pocket tothe blade, but close to the upper edge of the pocket, thereby placingthe ends of the welds substantially at the throat of the angles formedby the bends, said extensions, and the bends by which they are convertedinto foot rests, extending from points a substantial distance nearer thehandle than are the welds, to approximately the edges of the blade.

FRANCIS G. BRANDENBURG.

